Snyder: Wolf hunting essential' for thriving population

FILE - In this 1987 photo released by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, a wolf stands in the snow near Ishpeming, Mich., in the Upper Peninsula. The Michigan House voted Thursday, May 2, 2013, to empower the Michigan Natural Resources Commission to decide whether wolves and other animals should be targeted for hunting. Opponents say the move is designed to head off a voter referendum to outlaw wolf hunting in the state. (AP Photo/Michigan DNR, Dave Kenyon)

The Natural Resource Commission approved wolf hunting late last week after Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that allowed the NRC to establish a hunting season for the animals.

The 6-week season, which was approved by the board in a 6-1 vote, will open Nov. 15 and end Dec. 31, according to the Associated Press. The NRC is a group made up of seven individuals appointed by the governor.

AP says that it will allow for hunters to kill up to 43 of the animals, or an estimated 6.5 percent of the state’s wolf population, in selected parts of the Upper Peninsula.

Michigan has become the sixth state to authorize hunting wolves since federal regulations were lifted over the past two years in the western Great Lakes and the Northern Rockies, according to AP.

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Senate Bill 288, introduced by Sen. Thomas Casperson, allows the NRC to establish managed open season hunts for wild game and authority to regulate the taking of fish. It exempts the taking of mourning doves, pets and livestock.

The bill became Public Act 21 of 2013 when Snyder signed it.

“This action helps ensure sound scientific and biological principles guide decisions about management of game in Michigan,” Snyder said in a release. “Scientifically managed hunts are essential to successful wildlife management and bolstering abundant, healthy and thriving populations.”

The legislature maintains its ability to both add and remove species on the list, according to a press release.

If the NRC adds a species to the list, it cannot be undone by voter referendum, said Jill Fritz, Michigan State Director of the Humane Society of the United States and director of the Keep Michigan Wolves Protected campaign.

Allowing the NRC to decide “kind of frees up the legislature from that dirty work that the people of Michigan feel so strongly about,” Fritz said.

Keep Michigan Wolves Protected collected more than 250,000 voter signatures to put wolf hunting on the November 2014 ballot, but Fritz said SB 288 is an attempt to put a stop to that.

Supporters of SB 288 say voters already made their decision with Proposal G, which amended the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act and was passed in 1996 by 68.7 percent.

According to a press release, Proposal G granted “the NRC the exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game, including bear, and would require in the statute that the NRC use ‘principles of sound scientific management’ in making decisions regarding the taking of game.”

“We’re extremely disappointed that the governor would disregard the wish of so many voters that they have clearly demonstrated the opposition of hunting of wolves and they want to be able to vote on the issue,” Fritz said.

Michigan’s wolf population has decreased from 687 to 658 according the latest census by the Department of Natural Resources, according to the coalition.

AP says hunters and trappers are allowed only one wolf each. Firearms, crossbows and bow and arrows can be used. Hunting and trapping is allowed on public and private land.

Starting Aug. 3, 1,200 wolf hunting licenses will be available. The cost is $100 for Michigan residents and $500 for nonresidents, according to AP.

Contact Megan Semeraz at 248-745-4628 or email Megan.Semeraz@oakpress.com or follow her on Twitter @MeganSemeraz.